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Gearing hired as Leander ISD superintendent

Bruce Gearing speaks to the crowd of approximately 100 gathered at the Aug. 15 special meeting where he was unanimously approved as the next Leander ISD superintendent. Also pictured are (seated, from left) trustees Elexis Grimes, Aaron Johnson, Pam Waggoner and Trish Bode.Brian Perdue/Community Impact

Bruce Gearing speaks to the crowd of approximately 100 gathered at the Aug. 15 special meeting where he was unanimously approved as the next Leander ISD superintendent. Also pictured are (seated, from left) trustees Elexis Grimes, Aaron Johnson, Pam Waggoner and Trish Bode. (Brian Perdue/Community Impact)

The Leander ISD board of trustees unanimously approved Bruce Gearing as the next superintendent at an Aug. 15 special meeting at LEO Conference Center in Leander.

He begins Sept. 3, according to LISD spokesperson Corey Ryan.

Gearing succeeds Dan Troxell. Who took a job as the deputy executive director of the Texas Association of School Boards.

Gearing was selected as the superintendent finalist on July 25. State law mandates a 21-day waiting period between the naming and hiring of a new superintendent—making Aug. 15 the soonest Gearing can be hired officially.

After the vote, a welcome reception was held for Gearing. Approximately 100 attended the meeting.

Gearing has spent the past seven years as Dripping Springs ISD superintendent, where he was named the 2019 District 13 Superintendent of the Year and oversaw the district grow 50 percent during his tenure, according to a July 25 news release by LISD.

Before working at DSISD, Gearing worked as the Marshall ISD superintendent from 2009-12; an assistant superintendent at Mount Pleasant ISD from 2006-09; Mount Pleasant Junior High School principal from 2005-06; and served as principal of Annie Sims Elementary School from 2001-05.

Gearing earned his doctorate and masters degrees from Texas A&M, and his bachelors degrees in mathematics and chemistry from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. A native of South Africa, Gearing became a U.S. citizen in June 2010.

Brian Perdue is the editor of the Cedar Park/Leander edition of Community Impact Newspaper. He got his first newspaper job in 1992 and has worked for newspapers in Virginia, Hawaii, Southern California and Florida.